Scale of disaster ten times greater than in region - PM

Scale of disaster ten times greater than in region - PM

BELGRADE -- The scale of the disaster caused by the floods is ten times larger in Serbia than in other countries of the region, Tanjug quoted Aleksandar Vučić as saying.

Speaking on Tuesday, he also "expressed hope that this will not be reflected by the number of casualties."

During the open-door part of the government session, Vučić said that the bodies of 14 victims have been found so far in Obrenovac, a municipality completely submerged by torrential floods on May 15 at dawn.

They will be autopsied to determine whether they were among the casualties of the floods or died of natural causes, he said, adding that one person who had been reported missing in Varvarin has been found.

At one moment, the disaster seemed to be coming to an end as the weather conditions improved and the level of the River Sava dropped, Vučić said.

However, the Zabrežje village had to be evacuated completely as the water started coming in from behind the flood defense structures in Obrenovac (after breaching barriers in Croatia), leaving the sandbag barriers soaked, he said.

Additional measures have been taken to protect units A and B of the Nikola Tesla coal-fired power plant, which is now practically protected by flood barriers, Vučić said.

Addressing a press conference after the session, Vučić said that the damage caused by the floods will exceed 0.64 percent of the national GDP.

The percentage is higher than that - not including damage to agriculture, infrastructure and housing, Vučić said, stressing that there is no need for the country to jointly apply for EU funds with other countries.

Croatian...